28 October 2008
Ferry

World of Warcraft hits 11 million users worldwide! Making it the 75th biggest country in the world

Blizzard Entertainment announced today that World of Warcraft, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), is now played by more than 11 million gamers around the world.

That’s a full one million more than the number of monthly players World of Warcraft had back in January 2008 ten months ago. And all this before the release of the World of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King expansion pack worldwide on November 13th, 2008, which is expected to cause an increase in new and returning subscribers.

It’s interesting to note that if the World of Warcraft were a nation, CIA’s World Factbook says that out of 239 listed countries it would be the 75th most populated country on Earth ahead of Greece, but behind Zimbabwe.

“It’s been very rewarding to see gamers around the world continue to show such strong support for World of Warcraft,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We remain fully committed to responding to that enthusiasm with a high-quality, constantly evolving game experience.”

Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. It was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006 worldwide, and finished behind only World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, the first expansion pack for the game, in 2007.1 In addition to being the bestselling PC game of 2007 in both North America and Europe, The Burning Crusade holds the record for fastest-selling PC game of all time, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million in its first month.

Please note: These subscriber numbers are not for all-time, but they are in fact monthly active subscribers. Blizzard’s World of Warcraft Subscriber Definition reads:
“World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees territories are defined along the same rules.”

28 October 2008 15:17
astrotriforce

Man, those numbers are total insanity! 11 million active players monthly?!?

Everytime I read something like this it really makes me feel left out after my trial ended. I’m thinking I should give it another whirl!

28 October 2008 16:41
Azuraedge

Its funny because there are LOTS of people playing on free severs as well.
I wonder what the number is with them included?

28 October 2008 21:56
Chris

And thats not even private servers… there’s a whole lot more players like myself who cannot afford paying this game.. The only major downfall of such an amazing game. My server has about 9000 people on it almost like a small town.

29 October 2008 08:19
Frank

that’s not really true. I’m sure many people have more than one account. as for myself I have a back up account so i can play alliance side and horde on my pvp realm. my friends have numerous accounts as well as people in my guild. I’m sure this 11 million players is not accurate. I bet at least half million do not play anymore, if not more

29 October 2008 08:34
Rob

the numbers can not be accurate. they most likly are looking at how many are paying. Like if one person owns 10 accounts they count it as 10 people. and is it active accounts or accounts all together? my account hasnt been active since 06. and if your polling that account im sorry your poking a ‘dead’ hunter. iv thought of coming back but the fee is too much for me to pay when i have limited time to play. if it was set hours like a prepaid phone id play it more and most likly they would get more money out of it that way.

29 October 2008 08:57
Brian

Yes, these numbers do include how many “active” accounts one may have… If one person has 10 accounts, then… they are counting it

This also counts the system that they use in many asain countries for Lan centers where you can pay to play per day – not just on a monthly basis.

29 October 2008 10:07
SteveO

But there are also people that share accounts out there too. One account per family, or friends splitting account costs. So you have to weigh that in too.